In Conversation with Michelle Grierson, author of Becoming Leidah

Season 03 Episode 04 of the Intralingo World Lit Podcast

We’re so happy to share a truly magical conversation with author Michelle Grierson about her debut novel, Becoming Leidah. This one includes questions from a number of readers and is filled with deeply personal shares and insights.

~Lisa

Lisa Carter
 Founder & Creative Director, Intralingo Inc.

00:00:11 – Introduction

00:03:00 – Michelle’s Norwegian ancestry and how “blood memory” played a role in telling this story

00:06:08 – The heart of the book as a mother-daughter story

00:08:52 – The myth of the Selkies

00:11:10 – The shapeshifter as the Norse God Odin

00:12:31 – How the book came to Michelle in “quilt patches”

00:13:28 – The state of liminality throughout the book

00:14:58 – Michelle’s use of trines and the Norse cosmology of time

00:19:05 – The oneness of everything and playing with space on the page

00:20:56 – Reader is completely engaged from the first paragraph

00:25:33 – Story structure and the writing process

00:28:01 – Letting go of a book once it’s published

00:32:07 – The mother-daughter relationship

00:37:00 – The father as the villain in this story

00:41:43 – Two personal things Michelle took away from writing this book

00:46:09 – Reader takeaways from experiencing this book

GET THE BOOK

Intralingo Bookshop * (US customers only)

Or support the author through your local, independent bookseller or library.

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY…

Wayfarers Book Club, learn more at www.intralingo.com

*We often receive free books from publishers, authors and/or translators, but our recommendations are never paid. They are offered only when we genuinely want to share a book with you. Any links to the Intralingo store on Bookshop.org are affiliate links and may earn us a small commission on your purchase, at no extra cost to you. Bookshop is currently only available to US customers.